Orthex Group moves towards more sustainable raw materials

        Orthex Group, a leading Nordic home furnishings producer, has chosen a range of sustainable Luran® ECO raw materials from INEOS Styrolution for its SmartStore™ Compact storage product range. INEOS Styrolution uses the material as a feedstock for its new sustainable styrene. According to an independent third-party assessment, the new material has a 93% lower carbon footprint compared to the fossil-based Luran version.

        Orthex Group is a leading Nordic home furnishings producer that is committed to making consumers’ everyday lives easier through its products. The company has long been a champion of sustainability, focusing on the durability of its products and increasing the use of recyclable and bio-based materials to replace fossil-based plastics. As a next step, Orthex will start using Luran ECO based on the new mass balance in its entire SmartStore Compact storage range. The main criteria for Orthex in selecting this material from INEOS Styrolution were ease of processing, compliance with food contact regulations and a reduced carbon footprint. Alexander Rosenlew, CEO of the Orthex Group, commented: “This new raw material solution will support our long-term carbon neutrality goals. INEOS Styrolution and BASF enable us to offer consumers more sustainable products. This supports our goal to increase the share of sustainable raw materials in our production to 80% by 2030.”

        INEOS Styrolution uses BASF’s biomass balance (BMB) based styrenes to produce specialty styrenic products with bio-based attributes, mainly transparent styrenics such as the company’s NAS® range of styrene methyl methacrylate (SMMA) products and Luran range of SAN products. BASF and INEOS Styrolution’s process is ISCC+ certified based on end-to-end mass balanced production in the new solution portfolio.

        Artur Sokolowski, Director of Sales Electronics and Home Products EMEA at INEOS Styrolution, commented: “Orthex is an innovative and fast-growing company. I am pleased that we can provide solutions to Orthex and help them achieve their ambitious sustainability goals.”

        To produce biomass-balanced styrene, BASF replaces fossil resources such as naphtha or natural gas with renewable raw materials derived from organic waste or vegetable oils. This is a way to produce styrene through a mass-balance approach. Mass balance is a chain of custody model that tracks the total amount of raw materials (such as recycling or other alternatives) throughout the production process and ensures appropriate allocation to the finished product. As a result, raw material and plastic producers such as NEOS Styrolution and BASF can offer products with improved environmental characteristics that have the same characteristics as products manufactured using fossil raw materials. The allocation process of the mass balance method as well as the products are audited by independent auditors.

        “Both biomass-balanced raw materials on the one hand and raw materials based on chemically recycled plastic waste on the other hand replace fossil resources and are a very attractive way to help improve the carbon footprint of subsequent products. Alternative raw materials that have entered the circular economy enable us to produce with fewer virgin fossil raw materials. The aim of both mass balance methods is therefore the same,” said Stefanie Kutscher, Head of Business Management Styrenics Europe at BASF.